List of Otis elevator fixtures (North America)
This is a guide to some notable Otis elevator fixtures in the United States. For the global version, please refer to Otis Elevator Fixtures Guide (Global). 1920s-1930s Otis elevators in the 1920s to 1930s are using old black buttons. The exterior call button panel has a small round red lamp, which indicates that the elevator is in use (IN USE) when the call button is pressed. Old 1920s Otis fixtures.jpg|Old 1920s Otis call button panel (by dieselducy). 1960s-1980s Old Black Lexan Buttons In this era, most standard elevators are using the old black round buttons with classic white letterings; in the case of Otis, these buttons were made out of Lexan fiberglass. These buttons are very simple with no illumination indication. Also, there is no door close button; pressing a floor will quickly close the door and the car starts. Otis updated the black buttons, making them flush buttons with an illuminating halo. Floor counters were simply metal plates with illuminating numbers, going horizontally. They were also illuminating squares positioned vertically. By the mid-1970s, digital floor counters began appearing, and in some elevators, the directional indicator was on both sides of the floor indicator. The Lexan buttons were discontinued in the early 1990s. YouTube elevator enthusiasts mistakenly refer to the non-illuminating buttons as Pre-Lexan since they referred to the version with the illuminating as Lexan. Screen Shot 2012-11-17 at 10.17.43 PM.png|Old Otis car operating panel with black buttons. Otis_1970s_floor_counter.jpg|Typical Otis interior floor counter (1950s-1980s) Old_Otis_1970s_hall_indicator_and_lanterns.jpg|A 1970s Otis hall floor counter with green up hall lanterns. Otis Black buttons UK.jpg|Another typical Otis black buttons. Odd Otis black buttons.jpg|Old Otis black buttons in Rush Rhees Library, Rochester, NY. Old Otis Lexan fixtures Austin TX.jpg|Newer Lexan push buttons (Austin, TX). Touch sensitive buttons Also during the 1950s and 1960s, Otis was using black buttons with illuminating halos; they were either rounded or square shaped. These buttons used vacuum tubes so that the passenger would only lightly touch the button to go to his or her floor, which are actually worked by completing a circuit when your finger comes into contact with the button. This all works through a spring behind the touch plate that runs to the Thyratron tube behind the button, which serves as the switching circuit and the light bulb. The touch-sensitive buttons were discontinued later on as they were claimed to be a fire hazard.Touch Buttons, ASME A17.1, and the ADA - a discussion board in Skyscrapersim Forum. Also, many elevators with touch sensitive buttons were modernized for the same reason, as well as the car operating panels not being at ADA height. OTIS Lexan call buttons.jpg|Lexan touch-sensitive call buttons in Sibleys Tower, Rochester, NY. OTIS Lexan call buttons square.jpg|Lexan touch-sensitive buttons (square) Otis Lexan.jpg|Lexan touch-sensitive buttons (round) 00244.jpg|Round Lexan touch-sensitive call button. 00248.jpg|Another round Lexan touch-sensitive buttons. Rotodial indicator Also in the 1960s or 1970s, Otis uses the "Rotodial indicator" in very few elevators at that time.How the Otis "Vanishing" indicator works - a video from thyssenelevator95 This indicator is unique because the floor number display disappeared when the car passed between two floors. This type of indicator has a rack of 9 bulbs on each side of the display that sit behind a piece of film with numbers cut in it. A mirror directs the light towards the viewing screen, and you get the number of the floor.Otis Projecting Readout System retrofit brochure (from CEElectronics of England) The Rotodial indicator is often called "Otis vanishing indicator" by several YouTube elevator enthusiasms. Otis vanishing indicator.jpg|Otis "vanishing" indicator. Otis Vanishing indicator TX.jpg|Otis vanishing indicator at University of Texas Tower, Austin, TX. Early 1980s to current Otis' U.S. fixtures can be very hard to tell apart. There are 5 different "Series" of fixtures. Series 2,4, and 5 are nearly identical, and are the hardest to tell apart. Series 1 Series 1 is fairly common both in the US and overseas and was introduced in 1983. It has a very distinctive look. Normal Otis Series 1 is raised off the elevator panel. It has black plastic trim with either a silver or bronze face plate. Indicator is slanted down towards the floor. From 1983 until 1993/1994, Series one came with flush buttons, green door open and door close buttons, and a yellow alarm bell. And then from 1994 onward, Series 1 was slightly modified, now with popped out buttons; and door open, door close, and alarm, were in a transluscent white. Some elevators may also have a slanted up panel with some of the floor buttons on it. Has a green vacuum-flourescent indicator, and is normally a digital indicator, but a few models had a segmented floor counter. Screen Shot 2012-07-31 at 11.44.49 PM.jpg|Series 1 control panel. OTIS Series 1 indicator.jpg OTIS Series 1 button panel.jpg OTIS Series 1 hall buttons.jpg OTIS Series 1 wheelchair panel.jpg|A side car operating panel for handicapped passenger Series 2 Series 2 has a completely different look then Series 1. Series 2 comes with either rounded and popped out fixtures or flush buttons. Some buttons have been seen with a small circle in the middle instead of a ring.Which is a vandal resistant fixtures. Series 2 can be easily confused with Series 5. The only difference is that Series 2 lights up green. Has the Otis parentheses ( ) indicator. Untitled.jpg|Series 2 floor buttons. Series 3 The Series 3 fixtures are normally found in the Elevonic 411, 411M and Double Deck elevators in the mid-1990s. It consists of round concave buttons with green or red illumination halo, green (for up) and red (for down) hall lanterns and digital segmented floor indicators. Some elevators with Series 3 fixtures are using Electro Luminescent Display (ELD) indicators. The Series 3 fixtures is often called "Otis Luxury Fixtures". It also has a nice bell chime which sounds once (for up) and twice (for down) and a female voiceover sound. Nowadays this fixtures set has been went to a part of Series 4 fixturesIn North America only.. OTIS Series 1 buttons.jpg|Series 3 buttons OTIS Series 4 hall button panel.png|Typical Series 3 hall button panel. OTIS Series 4 hall lantern and indicator.png|Typical Series 3 hall lantern and indicator. OTIS Series 4 indicator.jpg|Series 3 digital floor indicator. OTIS Series 4 ELD.jpg|Series 3 electro luminescent display (ELD) indicator. OTIS Series 4 ELD 201 Elizabeth St Sydney.jpg|Another ELD display used in a double deck elevator. OTIS Series 4 fixtures 201 Elizabeth St Sydney.jpg|Series 3 buttons (red) OTIS Series 4 Indicator.png|Digital-segmented LED floor indicator. Series 4 Series 4 will look exactly the same as Series 2 & 5, the only difference is that Series 4, like Series 5, lights up red. To distinguish Series 4 from 5, typically Series 4 has the older chime that it shares with Series 1 & 2, and has a rectangular indicator. Otis Series 4 and 5 buttons.jpg|Series 4 buttons. Screen Shot 2012-08-01 at 12.15.21 PM.jpg|Series 4 floor indicator. Series 5 Series 5 uses the same fixtures as Series 2 and 4, but Series 4 and 5 light up red. Series 5 (like 2) normally uses the parentheses indicator. It uses Otis' new chime, which for the down signal uses 2 different sounding tones. Series 5 fixtures are more commonly found in hydraulic elevators more than traction elevators. Otis Series 2 and 5 Indicator US.jpg|Series 5 typical floor indicator. Series 6 Series 6 is rare to find. Series 6 is Otis' vandal resistant fixtures, mostly found in parking garages. It uses a simple, flush, black plastic fixture panel and has a square indicator. Directional arrows are also built into the indicator. Series 6 has the same fixtures found on Series 2,4, and 5, either flush or rounded and popped out. Otis Series 6 fixtures.jpg|Series 6 buttons. Series 6 indicator.jpg|Series 6 floor indicator. Series 7 Series 7 is the newest addition to Otis' fixture line. It uses the same buttons as Series 2,4, & 5, but light up blue. The emergency light is a thin, white line that bulges out slightly from the COP, below the indicator. Indicator is a normally a blue "ACME" indicator. mqdefault (1) 2.jpg|Series 7 Floor Indicator Series 8 Series 8 is just like Series 2, 4,5, and 7, but it has a circle that has been broken into three parts. Series 8 fixtures are made by Elevator Research for Otis. mqdefault (4).jpg|Series 8 buttons Destination Dispatch Otis' destination dispatch system, named Compass, replaces the conventional call buttons in the elevator lobby on each floor with either a wall-mounted keypad panel or large LCD touch display. It also replaces the floor buttoms inside the cab, as the floor number is entered outside the cab. For the wall-mounted keypad panel, it has the telephone-style keypad buttons and LCD screen above the buttons. The fixtures used inside the car are round stainless steel projecting buttons for the door control and alarm buttonsButtons used with Series 2, 4 & 5., and LCD screen for floor indicators. The floor destination display indicators are installed on both side of the inner door frames, and are digital-segmented or LCD screen. OTIS Compass car M display.jpg|Keypad type. OTIS Compass car S display.jpg|Car display (floor 1, take Car S to the right). OTIS Compass Hall Screen.png|LCD touch screen. OTIS Compass destination display on door jamb.jpg|Floor destination display indicators installed on door frame. OTIS Compass fixtures button.jpg|Projecting buttons used as the door control and emergency buttons. Trivia *The "Series" name is given by Unitec Parts, which is a parts company that deals with Official Genuine Otis Elevator and Escalator Parts. Note See Also *Otis Elevator Fixtures Guide (Global) External Links *Otis fixtures collection from Unitec Parts Category:Elevator fixtures guide